Wednesday, September 30, 2009

This was the Tee Pee line-up from Death to the Sun but I think for Weirds they were part of Xela Zaid's set. Whatever they were called it was, once again, solid and, once again, completely different from the last show. They had a psych/noise angle but it was much more subdued and wandering than last Saturday's frenetic performance.

Performing as a duo, the Squelchers kept it short and surprisingly sweet. Rat zeroed in on a classical radio station and streamed the music like a choppy pulse, creating blasts of melody that also served as heavy percussion. The vocalist was soulful/ethereal and the interplay between her and Rat was spot on.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Death to the Sun was nothing short of incredible. Much thanks to Ricardo from This Heart Electric for organizing such an enjoyable day of music and hard hanging out. The venue was amazing, the line-up was loud and diverse, the beer was cheap, and before we knew it we'd spent 13 hours watching bands and people.

(click images for larger versions)

Miami's American Legion is a pretty big place, complete with a sizeable bar and huge, beautiful backyard facing Biscayne Bay. There were so many places to hang out (on the steps out front, in the lobby, the bar/lounge, an indoor "patio" area where the bands ended up playing after a brief visit from the cops, the yard and bay front) and all of them were consistently packed. That's another thing that made this such a success: the turn out (cheap booze and no cover probably didn't hurt). By the end of the night there were several complete crowd turnovers with about a 1/3 of the audience sticking around for most of the show/bands...pretty great considering there were (rough, conservative estimate) probably close to 300 people in and out the whole day.

Space Voodoo Crystal opened the show and set the bar pretty high : Twinkle-melody by way of twitchy booty beats and freestyles aimed at the bay. Apparently this was their first performance with an MC and he did a pretty good job maintaining his flow and conjuring hooks/choruses when appropriate. Much like Sonic Chicken 4 the other night, if the context of the performance were a little different (middle of the night when everyone's good and sauced vs. 3PM) crowd response might have been a little more high energy, but as the opening act it was their duty to warm people up and heads were bobbing more towards the end of their set than the beginning. They've uploaded their demo on Mediafire so here's that. There's a bit more of an ethereal/spaced-out vibe to the recorded material than to the hip-hop-psych style of their performance.

After two-piece garage rockers Ouija, the cops showed up and asked for the show to be moved inside. Though this caused a slight delay, it was probably for the best. It's our experience that, for some reason, live music proves to be so much more immersive of an experience indoors. That's not to say it can never work outside or that an exotic locale won't enhance a performance, but a combination of acoustics and having a clearly defined enclosed space sucks you in just that much more.

Little Beard ushered in the evening with a pop'n'roll-shoegaze combo; an appropriate tribute to the recently departed sun at a fest paying homage to the end of summer.

Curious Hair played a handful of set standards, including a particularly solid rendition of their heavy on the harmony classic "Sunshine." There was some buzz (or maybe in usual Hair fashion some shit talk) about an all covers release featuring material from a pretty ubiquitous classic rock band. We know you're dying for the details so stay tuned.

The variety of music at Death to the Sun (one element which made the show so much fun) became especially apparent during BFGF. In terms of genre, there was seriously something for everyone and BFGF catered to people looking to get down. A DJ/vocalist electro-pop combo, their live show was heavy on the stimulus with trippy projections and dance numbers. The moves had a bit of a work-out vibe to them and their energy was infectious: the vibe transformed pretty seamlessly from rock show to dance club and it was all at the hands of this sharp/clever duo.

Tee Pee played a very different set than the one at Sweat a few nights back. That was excellent solo space pop from the garage; this was a total psychedelic assault of swirling pedals (featuring veteran squelcher,Alex Diaz) ferocious sax and nonstop runaway train free jazz drumming (think "Wipeout" but you're actually getting wiped the fuck out). Tee Pee knows what's up and we can't wait to see him/them again.

At some point a pack of dudes in full flamenco regalia rolled up and started playing in the back patio. A small crowd gathered, some people danced. Only in Miami.

Wow Champagne describes Dino Felipe as sounding like "flicking radio stations randomly and landing on a great pop song each time even though the signal isn't the best." Sounds about right. The reviewer goes on to say "Does that make any sense? I wish i was more lucid but I just wanna sleep," which also works for our purposes, as Dino went on at about 2 a.m., a full 12 hours after this event got going. And guess what? He killed it. Yeah, he sang (with effects) over prerecorded tracks and, no, you couldn't hear the tambourines the girls were shaking (maybe that wasn't the point?) but his was still one of the best of the night. Much like BFGF taking up the role of party-aerobics instructors, Dino was the MC of being out of your head. Lot's of scurrying, some chair tossing, some amp scaling, all to perfectly blown out pop masterpieces.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Controlling Human = creep-extraordinaire currently based in Portland, Oregon; originally hails from the vast and humid sovereignty of Bradenton, Florida. His recent Confusion cassette slithers around that nebulous region where noise, metal and industrial all forget which way is up and which way is to the dungeon. You can hear excerpts (and get in touch to figure out what sort of sacrificial offering will secure you copies of future releases) here. Alongside an impressive, meaty batch of sinister and tripped out drawings/videos, his blog has a single from the forthcoming Hot Blood collection.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

This banger starts early, so expect quality afternoon raunch. We anticipate Curious Hair getting trashed and pissing everyone off by 1:20. Not only is the show free but so are the pool tables and the parking, a rare trifecta in Miami. The multimedia aspect looks promising as does the witch doctor.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Sweat Records has air conditioning again, which means all ages in-stores and a more breathable atmosphere for browsing their increasingly awesome selection. They recently acquired a big load of used gems (a substantial portion allegedly coming from a dirty divorce) and have got a lot of crazy stuff. Beefheart imports, o.g. classic punk and metal records, the banned version of Electric Ladyland and so much more, all at super reasonable prices.

Sonic Chicken 4, from Perpignan, France. '50s American frat rock, wedding music (they could have played a great cover of "Shout" by the Isley Brothers), competent, fun, lighthearded and loud rock and roll. If it weren't a Tuesday I could see the crowd getting raucous. The situation being what it was, people kept things to appreciative head bobs and light shimmy-shuffles.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Dance music: who ever thought it would come to this? Bellwether singles from Tampa's most perverse perps of new weird disco. Skeleton Warrior's "Married to Draino" is a head bobbing, dark sleaze-synth ode to young love and all it's trappings ("asked my dog for advice/she said get married to draino"). Guest starring Diamond Hymen as Draino. Pro Bro Gold oozes a thick cloud of crunchy club pop with "Electric Fingertips" (the sound of strobing). Take heed, take candy from strangers, take to the floor. Split release with Cephia's Treat

Tampa, Florida is not fucking around, people. Preaux Breaux Geauxld's "Electric Fingertips" has an early-Hi-NRG-goes-lo-fi vibe with riffs that feel like they're melting into each other. It's addictive and fascinating in a way that every great pop tune should be. Not to be outdone, for their side Skeleton Warrior write a love song to a lethal cleaning product, "Married to Draino" (with Diamond Hymen guesting as the voice of "Draino" [BTW someone put out a Diamond Hymen 7" NOW!]) that bubbles along at frightening crawl and sounds as if it's makers were drinking the product whilst producing this cut. The vinyl is black with white marble wisps, like a fog machine running in a dark room. Which is exactly appropriate for these bands.